


The Implications of Dinner with a Ferret

by HeroMaggie



Series: Ser Chompy brings people together [3]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: Ferret Fenris has a problem with stealing, Ferret!Fenris, Fluff, Hawke is too cute sometimes, M/M, Talk of Courting, Talk of Friendship, We've been what now? Dating?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-20
Updated: 2015-07-20
Packaged: 2018-04-10 08:13:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4384142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeroMaggie/pseuds/HeroMaggie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the first time Anders and Fenris have been on a job together since the entire Ser Chompy incident. And while Hawke is thrilled that two of his favorite people have learned how to be friendly, Anders learns that, perhaps, there is more to this than simply...friendship...</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Implications of Dinner with a Ferret

**Author's Note:**

> For the record - this Hawke is hilarious to write. I'm not sure why he's so goofy - but he is.
> 
> Also - one of these days, Fenris is going to get in trouble with this whole "shinies" thing...

“This looks like a good spot,” Hawke spun in a circle in the center of a small clearing. Shrubs grew against boulders in a half-circle that opened to a view of the coast and the small trail leading up to the main Wounded Coast path. “It would be hard to sneak up on us here.”

Varric stumped down the path and look around, shrugged, and dropped his gear, “Whatever you say Hawke. You know I wouldn’t know a good campsite from a nug print.”

“Do nugs make prints?” Hawke was unpacking his tent and starting the laborious process of assembling the shelter. “I mean, the Deep Roads is all stone. How can you make a print on stone?”

“What is he going on about now?” Anders glanced at Hawke before moving to a spot closer to the shrubs.

“Nug prints,” Hawke said helpfully, grinning when Fenris and Merrill came into view. “Merrill, my love, have you ever seen a nug make prints?”

“Like little footprints? Yes. In the forest,” Merrill shooed Hawke away from the tent and started putting it up with quick, efficient movements. “They’re so cute when foraging in the brush.”

“Nugs live in the forest?” Hawke looked like his entire worldview had been skewed.”Really?”

“Hawke, they are vermin. They live everywhere,” Fenris rolled his eyes, moving across the camp to settle near Anders. “They are good eating, too.”

Hawke just shook his head and glanced at Varric, “Did you know they lived in forests?”

“I didn’t realize you could hunt a nug. I thought they came to us straight from the butcher - ready for roasting,” Varric said while patting Hawke’s shoulder. “Or smoked and made into ham.”

Hawke shrugged and sat down next to his now-assembled tent, Merrill dropping onto his lap to pat at the big man’s beard. “It’s ok, Hawke. I prefer a nice rabbit for dinner. Oh! Do you want me to go see if I can hunt any down?”

“I actually packed for camping this time, Merrill.” There was a hurt look on the big man’s face. “I had Orana wrap up some roast and I froze it...brought some potatoes…” There was some rifling and then the aforementioned roast was pulled from Hawke’s pack - still mostly frozen. “See! We can make a soup from it!”

From next to Anders came a quiet grumble. Anders turned his chuckle into a cough as the elf muttered something about Hawke’s soups and indigestion. Anders reached out and tapped Fenris on the hand, nodding to his own pack and mouthing “chicken legs” to the elf who perked up.

“Later,” Anders whispered, watching Fenris vibrate in excitement for a moment before settling.

“Wish they were eggs,” Fenris muttered back as he pulled out his tent and started putting it up. The tent was just for show, he wouldn’t be sleeping in it.

“Can’t bring eggs to the coast, you daft weasel. They’d break in my pouch.” Anders whispered back as he set up his own tent.

“You brought me eggs back from the Dalish,” There was a slight pout to Fenris’ quite retort.

“Because we were heading right back to town, not stopping overnight…” Anders stood and narrowed his eyes at his friend who had affected a very convincing pout. “You’re impossible.”

“Says the mage who healed himself into unconsciousness three nights in a row last week,” Fenris responded in a dry tone at odds with the wide, sad puppy eyes currently being thrown at said mage.

“I am not falling for that again. Absolutely not. The last time you made that face I missed Wicked Grace,” Anders turned his back on Fenris who gave a soft huff.

“You needed the rest,” Fenris pointed out, shoving his pack into his tent and dusting off his hands.

“What are you two going on about?” Hawke was staring at Fenris and Anders with his mouth gaping open.

“Er…” Anders realized belatedly that he had stopped whispering and had been grousing outloud to Fenris in view of the group. To be fair, this was the first outing both of them had been on since the entire Ser Chompy incident several weeks ago. Hawke still took them out separately, still afraid that the quiet moment at the Clinic had been a hallucination on his part - because Anders and Fenris cuddling made the big man feel like the world had tilted sideways.

Fenris watched Anders turn five shades of red and came to his rescue, “I talked him into a date with Ser Chompy. He had been working too hard and I badgered him till he had some play time with the ferret.”

“You...Ser Chompy...but...why?” If Hawke’s mouth hung open any wider he’d dislocate his jaw. Merrill reached up and slowly closed his mouth, patting his cheek fondly.

Fenris glanced at Anders and gave the mage a small smile, “He works too hard in his clinic. I felt it necessary to intervene.”

Clearly unable to handle this new development, though the implications that he could actually bring his favorite warrior and favorite healer at the same time was excellent news, Hawke turned back to the more important task at hand - dinner.

Dinner being Hawke’s Special Soup - a strange mixture of whatever meat he had dragged with them, a handful of random herbs, and potatoes. It wasn’t, necessarily, good soup. But it was hot and better than jerky.

Back when Hawke was new to the group they had hunted for dinner. The Wounded Coast was home to a variety of small animals - all good for eating - and a lot of the group was excellent at bringing in braces of rabbit or squirrel or even the game birds that roosted around the cliffs. But while Hawke knew a turnip from a rutabaga, could have an in depth discussion on manure, and could explain why the phases of the moon could be used to predict pests in the crops - he could not actually field dress game. The first time Merrill had brought him some rabbits, he had nearly sliced off a finger. Anders had fixed his hand while Merrill had prepared dinner and that had been that.

They group had been stuck with Hawke’s Special Soup ever since.

Anders took a seat next to his tent and smiled at Fenris when he sat down next to him. Humming softly under his breath, Anders worked to fix the leather wrapping on this staff - the cord having come loose during their last fight. Fenris watched him for a moment and then dragged his sword over his lap, settling down to clean and sharpen the blade. Neither man spoke as they worked, but the silence around them was comfortable and friendly. Familiar.

And the rest of the group noticed.

Anders glanced over to see Varric grinning while polishing Bianca. The dwarf’s grin grew when he saw Anders’ looking and he nodded at Fenris and then waggled his eyebrows. That made Anders roll his eyes and nudge Fenris, who glanced over at Varric and frowned. Anders and Fenris shared a look - the elf grimacing while the mage huffed softly.

Hawke was still stirring the soup, though his eyes darted from Anders and Fenris to Varric and back repeatedly - unsure of what to say and afraid he’d break whatever spell had been cast to have the broody elf and blond mage sit together.

Merrill broke the tension when she asked in her clear voice, “How is Ser Chompy?”

“He is doing well, Merrill,” Fenris ran a cloth down his sword, polishing the metal.

“Does he spend a lot of time with Anders? They looked so happy together,” Merrill propped her chin up on her hand and leaned forward. “It’s too bad he can’t live with Anders.”

“He is my ferret,” Fenris pointed out. “But Ser Chompy enjoys his play dates with Anders.”

“He does?” Anders asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh most certainly. Sometimes they are dinner dates,” Fenris said, a rare smile forming on his face. “The mage provides a delicious dinner for Ser Chompy.”

Anders was blinking down at his staff as if seeing it for the first time. Wrinkles appeared on the mage’s forehead and then Anders was looking back to Fenris, “Dinner dates?”

“Mm,” was all Fenris said, returning to his sword cleaning.

Anders stroked fingers down the wood of his staff and seemed to contemplate the dirt in front of him. The silence returned, still companionable though now with a hint of confusion - at least on the part of Anders. Fenris glanced over to see the mage still gazing into the dirt with wide eyes and gave a little huff of laughter. It was deeply apparent that the mage had not realized the implications of dinner with Fenris on a semi-regular basis.

Hawke finally called that dinner was done and began to serve the soup - this one filled with shredded roast, bits of sage, and small potatoes. It wasn’t half-bad...wasn’t half-good either, but better than anything served at the Hanged Man. Merrill seemed to enjoy it the most - or maybe was just putting on a good show for her lover. Varric and Hawke each seemed to think it alright. Fenris ate half a bowl and then retreated from the pot.

Anders ate two bowls before returning to sit next to Fenris. That wrinkle was still on his forehead.

Night fell in a wave that covered the hill and disappeared into the watery horizon. Hawke and Merrill spent some time stargazing while Varric told stories. Anders glanced at Fenris and mouthed the word “date?” The elf simply chuckled and nodded at Varric as if to say “listen to the dwarf, fool mage.”

Anders figured that was the best he would get out of the elf tonight.

***

The sound of chittering heralded the arrival of Fenris. Anders had just crawled into his tent and situated himself on his blankets when a black and silver ferret scampered out from under the draping tent wall. Fenris chittered and romped around the tent while Anders laughed at Fenris’ antics, pulling out his hair tie and making sure his boots and staff were near the entry flap before lying down. Finally, the ferret scampered to Anders, nibbled at the mage’s ear, and then settled himself in the mage’s hair. Anders fell asleep to the quiet noises of ferret chatter and the feeling of little paws tugging and smoothing through his hair.

Fenris waited for Anders to fall asleep before moving again. The chicken had been left out for him, and he quickly devoured each piece before dragging the bones outside to the brush to hide. Fed and feeling frisky, Fenris contemplated the camp and then slowly started to creep by the fire to Hawke and Merrill’s tent.

Hawke was curled around Merrill, cradling the little elf to his chest as they slept. He nosed around the tent for a bit, snuffling over bags and clothing before finding Merrill’s staff. Wrapped around the top cap was a thick leather band sporting small crystals dangling on thin leather thongs. The crystals weren’t enchanted - that Fenris could tell - and were pretty. So shiny, so sparkly...and the leather thong smelled good. He chomped through the thong and dragged a soft blue crystal away, wiggling under the tent and scampering back to Anders’ tent to hide the crystal in the chicken-smelling pouch. He curled back up on Anders’ hair and drifted to sleep, pleased with his newest acquisition.

A few hours later and the sound of Varric’s voice calling for Anders woke him. The mage slowly sat up and patted at Fenris, grabbed his staff, and stumbled out to the fire to take his watch. Fenris curled up on Anders’ still warm blankets and chattered to himself, wondering if he should join the mage. Still...the dwarf would be asleep now...and the dwarf sometimes had shinies…

Sit with Anders or check out the possible shinies in Varric’s tent...Fenris gave a little giggle and scooted out of the tent, skirting the fire and shimmying under the dwarf’s tent before Anders could see him.

Varric was curled around Bianca and snoring softly - already asleep. His jacket had been tossed to one side and the bright golden buttons seemed to gleam even in the gloom. Fenris gave a quiet chitter and rushed to the jacket, biting at the thread until the bottom button popped off. Grabbing it his teeth, he wiggled back out of the tent and scampered back to Anders’ tent to hide the button in the chicken-smelling pouch.

New shinies acquired, Fenris slid back to his tent and then shifted, dressing quickly and moving out to sit with Anders.

“So,” Anders was gazing up at the stars, a small smile on his face. “We’ve been dating?”

Fenris listened for a moment for any movement and then leaned against Anders’ side. “Maybe. In a way. Would that be a problem?”

“Am I being courted by a ferret?” Anders smiled wider at the feeling of Fenris resting against his side.

“I am working on it, mage,” Fenris said on a sigh. “It is not something I can rush.”

“No, I don’t suppose it is,” Anders agreed.

“Are you opposed to the general idea?” Fenris glanced up and found himself staring into whiskey colored eyes. “Courting?”

“I’ve never been courted,” Anders admitted. “I think I’d enjoy it.”

“And I have never courted,” Fenris said softly. “The way you treat Ser Chompy…could you ever treat me the same?”

“What? Feed you eggs and chicken and give you baths?” Anders teased, turning to face Fenris. “Or do you mean the teasing and cuddling and fun?”

“All of it? Would it matter if I was...me?” Fenris plucked lightly at his tunic and grimaced. “I am not nearly as cute.”

“I would disagree there,” Anders protested. “It’s easier with Ser Chompy, sure. I’m not as afraid that I’ll hurt Ser Chompy’s feelings. He’s uncomplicated. You, though...you’re very complicated.”

Fenris thought about that for a moment and seemed to droop,”Is that bad?”

Anders reached out and stroked a finger over Fenris’ cheek, “No. I like complicated.”

Fenris huffed out a soft laugh - one Anders returned. Silence slowly filled the clearing and they both returned to leaning against each other, eyes on the stars as they sat through Anders’ watch and then Fenris’. After Hawke was woken for his watch, Fenris went back to his tent to change back to Ser Chompy and return to cuddling up with Anders’ hair - sleeping deeply surrounded by the smells of the mage.

They slept till the sound of Varric’s loud grousing about missing a button from his coat woke them.

***

Three days later, Anders opened the pouch he had put the chicken in and found a coat button from Varric’s coat and a small blue crystal wrapped in leather.

He slid them under his bed to join the rest of Fenris’ small horde in his clinic, a small smile on his face.

**Author's Note:**

> I can be found on Tumblr as Warriormaggie


End file.
